Starz to Develop Scripted Series Airborne

Starz announced today that it will develop a new original drama series from “Newsroom” writer Gideon Yago with Executive Producer Rob Tapert. “Airborne” is a coming-of-age story set at the dawn of the Vietnam War. The series follows a young helicopter crew as they fight for survival, sanity, their souls, and each other in a country – and war – that are descending into chaos.

The new original series will be produced by Starz with Executive Producer Rob Tapert (“Spartacus,” Evil Dead, “Xena: Warrior Princess,” “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.”) and Producer Aaron Lam. “Airborne” will be written by Gideon Yago, an Emmy and Peabody award-winning journalist and former MTV News and CBS News writer and correspondent. Yago has written drama pilots for both ABC and AMC and was a staff writer on the first season of HBO’s “The Newsroom.”

“Even though we are using Vietnam and the early days of air cavalry as a backdrop, our hope is to bring the audience timeless stories about what makes a hero and how a group of young people fight to retain their humanity in the midst of a surreal and terrible conflict,” said Gideon Yago.

“This project explores events that continue to be a relevant and engrossing point of conversation today,” says Carmi Zlotnik, Managing Director of Starz. “The experiences of these young men and their fight for survival are being brought to life by Gideon Yago and Rob Tapert in a way that has not been done.”

“We are incredibly excited to be working on a project that holds such continued importance and relevance today. ‘Airborne’ will capture the human story of war — a story of love, loss and sacrifice. It will deliver those elements through a lens that is both surreal and stylized, taking the television audience on a journey they have yet to experience in this genre,” said Executive Producer, Rob Tapert.